Photo courtesy of Audrey Blondin
Torrington optometrist Dr. Matthew Blondin, second on right, and his wife Audrey BLondin, holding sign, were joined by their team of volunteer doctors and others for a week in Nicaragua. The group, VOSH-Connecticut, took their 15th trip to the Central American country to help the residents there, who have no access to vision care.

SAN JUAN DEL SUR, NICARAGUA >> VOSH-Connecticut held its twelfth annual eye care clinic in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua on January 5-12. This was the fifteenth year of service at this site to the San Juan del Sur area, the twelfth under the auspices of VOSH-Connecticut, along with three previous missions under the auspices of VOSH-NECO. The team consisted of six Optometrists led by Dr. Matthew Blondin and included: Dr. Josephine (Abby) Quinn, Dr. Thomas Margius, Dr. Brian Lynch, Dr. Jerry Hardison, and Dr. Robert Mingrone, along with Mission Assistants Joyce Krinitsky and Kevin Creed, two opticians, Dottie Byus and Mareshah Lynch, 17 optometry students from Berkeley and the New England College of Optometry and 15 additional support staff including translators and dispensary assistants.

As in years past, approximately 50 local residents assisted with the clinic duties, led for the 15th time by local doctor Dr. Rosa Elena Bello, recently and newly elected Mayor of San Juan del Sur.

Many of these local volunteers have been with us for all 15 years. During the opening of the clinic, Dr. Bello was presented with a certificate of appreciation and congratulations from First Selectman Leo Paul, Jr. of Litchfield, hometown of Clinic Directors Dr. Matthew and Audrey Blondin. In addition to the 1,800 pairs of glasses purchased by VOSH-Connecticut from the Virginia Lions Club, 3,000 pairs of sunglasses and 300 pairs of readers were purchased by VOSH-CT. Roger Mahieu, Jr. , True Value of Litchfield, donated 100 True Value bags which were very helpful during the week for the mission members.

Over the past 11 years, we have seen at total of 29,619 patients broken down as follows: 2003:3,158; 2004: 2,530; 2005:2,607; 2006:2,283; 2007:2,359; 2008:2,428; 2009:2,674; 2010: 2,853; 2011:3,259; and 2012:2772.

We now see many of the same patients year after year, since our yearly clinic remains the only source of eye health care for a large part of the southern Nicaraguan population. We are all very appreciative of the opportunity to provide continuing care to those in need.

Escalating mission costs continue to present a challenge. Total mission expenditures are now over $11,000 per trip, funded solely through volunteer donations solicited primarily by solicitations through the CAO, as well as through the yearly mission fees and the generosity of our friends and associates.

We continue to be appreciative of the generosity of the members of the CAO and others, as well as our mission members who give so generously not only of their time but financially as well.

Nicaragua continues to struggle in these ongoing difficult economic times with no good end in sight.

As the world-wide economy has continued to deteriorate and stagnate, the poor get poorer and the divide between the rich and poor grows ever wider, especially in a place of huge economic and cultural disparity like Nicaragua.

It has been very fortunate for the mission that our original sponsor, Dr. Rosa Elena Bello, who continues to be our wonderful sponsor to this day, will now be also serving as the Mayor of San Juan del Sur for the next four years.

This should help to facilitate the issues we continue to face upon arrival at customs and hopefully things will go smoother there over the next few years with her in charge.

Throughout each mission, we all try to do the best that we can with the limited resources available to us, and once again, as our mission came to a close, mission members came away with a great deal of satisfaction knowing that a great many in need were helped by their generous and unselfish efforts. VOSH-CT continues to be grateful to all of those, both here and in Nicaragua, who work together as one to provide eye care to so many who otherwise would have none.

Audrey Blondin, a local attorney, and her husband Dr. Matthew Blondin share their practices in a renovated office on Prospect Street in Torrington. Visit www.drblondin.com/vosh or www.blondinlaw.com/vosh to learn more about how to volunteer or donate.